Effective hitpoints

A higher EHP number indicates the ship can take more sustained abuse. This is a valuable attribute for a number of combat situations. For example, a ship with an EHP higher than 70,312.5 on all damage types would not be killed by a pre-Dominion single Doomsday detonation of any Titan.

High EHP is also useful for Gank-fit ships. The highest tier of weapons will use higher powergrid, CPU, and capacitor than middle and lower tier weapons, sometimes making it harder or impossible to fit a 'conventional' active tank. Instead, such fits usually rely on their high damage output and high EHP to kill their target before sustaining too much damage.

EHP can also be an important consideration in Remote Repairing gangs. Because of the short range of Battleship-sized Remote Armor Repair Systems and Shield Transporters and the danger of encountering an enemy with ECM, having a high EHP could mean survival long enough to be repaired by your gangmates.